[gnso-rds-pdp-wg] "Thanks" is Trademarked!

[Greg Shatan]

Not sure anyone needs to be tarred and feathered here.  But let's get the
facts straight. (Perhaps those who don't get the facts straight are the
ones who should be tarred & feathered, etc., but that seems rather harsh.
I prefer to educate rather than vilify.)

Citi did not sue AT&T for "using the word in a commercial." Citi sued AT&T
for apparently seeking to brand its new customer loyalty program as AT&T
THANKS when Citibank already has a longstanding (since 2004) customer
loyalty program branded as CITI THANK YOU, with about 15 million members in
the US, and a trademark registered since 2011 for "Promoting the goods and
services of others through administration of incentive reward and
redemption programs by distributing rewards for credit and debit card use,
and for banking and wealth management customer *loyalty*".  And AT&T didn't
merely use the THANKS brand, they applied for a trademark registration for
AT&T THANKS for "Providing incentive award programs for customers for the
purpose of promoting and rewarding loyalty."

It seems like an entirely reasonable claim that consumers could be confused
between a THANK YOU brand loyalty program and a THANKS brand loyalty
program.  Without opining on the likelihood of success, it's an entirely
reasonable claim of infringement.  Indeed the subject matter of this email
demonstrates such confusion -- THANKS is not "trademarked" by anyone, in
spite of the attention-getting headline.  CITI THANK YOU is a registered
trademark of Citigroup.  AT&T THANKS is the subject of a pending
application by AT&T.

If AT&T had merely "used the word in a commercial" and not as a trademark,
there would be nothing to object to, and no claim, and this email wouldn't
exist.  The actual facts are significantly different.

That's the problem with suggesting tarring and feathering, and other such
actions of a mob mentality.  They are based on incorrect facts and a desire
to inflame people, rather than to inform them.  Unfortunately, information
can come too late to save the victims of such an attack (hot tar causes
serious and often fatal burns).  Thankfully, all that was suggested was a
rhetorical tarring and feathering, so no one actually suffered at the hands
of an ill-informed, intemperate mob.

Hope that is informative.

Greg

[Caveats: (1) I am a CITI THANK YOU cardholder and use my THANK YOU points
regularly on Amazon where they are available as dollars. (2) From around
1999 to 2004, the firm I was with represented Citigroup in trademark
matters, though I personally didn't do very much of that work.  I have not
had any professional relationship with Citigroup since 2004 (3) This should
not be construed as legal advice.]

On Fri, Jun 10, 2016 at 3:15 PM, Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ..and Citi sues AT&T for using  the word in a commercial!  It also owns
> thankyou.com as well!
>
> I checked the USPTO database and it was a revelation; lots of "thankyou"
> there, dead and alive. See:
> http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4803:ku1j42.1.1
>
> So I ask you, who're the halfwits that need to be tarred, feathered and
> put in stock in the village square for a quick kick in the butt from every
> passerby?
>
> http://www.reuters.com/article/us-at-t-citigroup-lawsuit-idUSKCN0YW1K3
>
> -Carlton
>
> [Disclosure: I'm partial to AT&T on account they paid for graduate school.]
>
> ==============================
> Carlton A Samuels
> Mobile: 876-818-1799
> *Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
> =============================
>
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